京のキー The Moving Tortoise

The Moving Tortoise

When challenged to paint a picture of a tortoise that would move, Sesshu
decided instead to carve one in stone, along with a crane. At night the
tortoise was said to move around the gardens. In frustration, Sesshu
rammed a rock through the tortoise's back, pinning it down and stopping
it from moving. You can still see this rock, the tortoise, sitting in
the Hasso Gardens of Tofuku-ji.

This morning I dragged Rhod away from his game playing, hopping on a bus
that took us around the outskirts of the city, passing through the slum
suburbs, tantalisingly close to Nintendo HQ. In the leafy, cobbled
streets of Tofuku-ji, we explored the Hasso Gardens and crossed the Tsuten Bridge (immortalised by the ukiyoe artist Hiroshige), which spans
the Sengyokukan stream and narrow ravine that cuts through the hills.

The famous beauty Ono-no-Komachi, who was said to have been
propositioned more times than there are raindrops in a storm, lived at Tofuku-ji
for many years. She commissioned a sculptor to carve her a small
buddha, called Tamazusa Jizo. There is an opening in his back where it
is said Ono kept the hundreds of amorous letters and poems she received.

Tofuku-ji was meant to challenge the wonders of Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji in
Nara, and the name is derived from characters of both.